Related papers: Note: Formation of the nematic splay-bend in two-d…
We study the effect of fluctuations in opening angle of bent-core molecules on stability of the nematic phases. The molecules are built out of two Gay-Berne centers of $\kappa = 4$, $\kappa ' = 5$, $\mu = 1$ and $\nu = 2$, each…
By means of computer simulations we study how droplets of hard, rod-like particles optimize their shape and internal structure under the influence of the osmotic compression caused by the presence of spherical particles that act as…
In this work, the morphology of nematic capillary nanobridges in slit pores separated by a vertical distance $D$ will be characterised by Monte Carlo simulations for oblate molecules nematogen modelled by the Gay-Berne potential. Previous…
A material showing a sequence of three ferroelectric liquid crystalline phases below the paraelectric nematic phase has been synthesized and studied. The polar order of molecules appearing due to the dipole-dipole interactions in the NF…
Inspired by the observations of a remarkably stable biaxial nematic phase [E.v.d. Pol et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 258301 (2009)], we investigate the effect of size polydispersity on the phase behavior of a suspension of boardlike…
We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to determine the finite temperature phase diagram and to investigate the thermal and quantum melting of stripe phases in a two-dimensional hard-core boson model. At half filling and low temperatures…
The quadrupolar splittings of perdeuteriated n-decane dissolved in nematic phases formed by mesogenic dimers of the CBnCB series, for n=7,9,10,11 are measured throughout the entire temperature range of these phases. The results of the…
We study phases and phase transitions that can take place in the newly discovered banana (bow-shaped or bent-core) liquid crystal molecules. We show that to completely characterize phases exhibited by such bent-core molecules a third-rank…
We use Monte Carlo simulations and analytical arguments to analyze a frustrated Ising model with nearest neighbour antiferromagnetic coupling $J_1$ and next nearest neighbour coupling $J_2$. The model is inspired on the physics of pnictide…
The paradigm of spontaneous symmetry breaking encompasses the breaking of the rotational symmetries $O(3)$ of isotropic space to a discrete subgroup, i.e. a three-dimensional point group. The subgroups form a rich hierarchy and allow for…
We study the kinetics of the nematic-isotropic transition in a two-dimensional liquid crystal by using a lattice Boltzmann scheme that couples the tensor order parameter and the flow consistently. Unlike in previous studies, we find the…
We investigate the phase behaviour of a two-dimensional colloidal model system of ultra-soft particles on a substrate which varies periodically along one spatial direction. Our calculations are based on mean-field density functional theory…
Polymer-coated pores play a crucial role in nucleo-cytoplasmic transport and in a number of biomimetic and nanotechnological applications. Here we present Monte Carlo and Density Functional Theory approaches to identify different collective…
Many bent-core nematic liquid crystals exhibit unusual physical properties due to the presence of smectic clusters, known as "cybotactic" clusters in the nematic phase. Effect of these clusters on complex shear modulus ($G^*(\omega)$) of…
We study numerically the rheological properties of a slab of active gel close o the isotropic-nematic transition. The flow behavior shows strong dependence on sample size, boundary conditions, and on the bulk constitutive curve, which, on…
The stability of demixing phase transition in binary mixtures of hard plates (with thickness L and diameter D) and hard spheres (with diameter $\sigma$) is studied by means of Parsons-Lee theory. The isotropic-isotropic demixing, which is…
Models of active nematics in biological systems normally require complexity arising from the hydrodynamics involved at the microscopic level as well as the viscoelastic nature of the system. Here we show that a minimal, space-independent,…
The effects of dipolar interactions and molecular flexibility on the structure and phase behavior of bent-core molecular fluids are studied using Monte Carlo computer simulations. Some calculations of flexoelectric coefficients are also…
We present a novel Monte Carlo simulation of the phase separation dynamics of a model fluid membrane. Such a phase segregation induces shape changes of the membrane and results in local `budding' under favourable conditions. We present a…
We formulate the scaled particle theory for a general mixture of hard isosceles triangles and calculate different phase diagrams for the one-component fluid and for certain binary mixtures. The fluid of hard triangles exhibits a complex…